“Have a good day.” I wave to her as she takes off, glancing over her shoulder at me as if I’ve lost it.
And maybe I have.
Maybe I have completely lost it, but there is something afoot, and from the looks of it, Ford has no idea. And even though we’ve said some unsavory things to each other recently, there’s one thing I know for sure: Ford needs to be aware of what’s going on.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
DR. BEAU
“Dr. Beau, Cooper Chance is here,” Tara, my receptionist, says. “He needs a refill for his dad.”
“Oh, sure. Send him in,” I say as a wave of anxiety shoots up my back.
I shouldn’t be nervous, but for some reason, all I can think about is that I was with his sister last night. That I kissed her. Felt her. Touched her. Played with her.
Will he be able to see it on my face?
Would he care?
“Hey, Dr. Beau,” Cooper says, crossing the threshold of my office.
“Hey, Cooper,” I say. “What brings you to the island today?”
“Oh, you know, had a meeting and then was going to go check on my parents, but my mom called and asked if I could pick up the refill prescription you have for my dad’s meds.”
“Yeah, let me see if I have that.”
I pull up Martin Chance’s chart on my computer and go to his medications.
“I don’t understand why the pharmacy won’t just let you send it or call it in. This is such a pain in the ass for everyone.”
I pull out a prescription pad from my desk and write out his medication and dosage with the pen my dad used to use when he’d write poems on his hikes. “It’s really okay on our end. Not a big deal at all.” Nervously, I reach for my water and take a drink, only to spill it over my shirt.
“Whoa, everything okay?” Cooper asks, looking around, probably for a napkin of some sort.
“Yeah.” I laugh nervously while picking up a napkin from my desk. “Sorry. Long night.”
“Storm was crazy, right?” Cooper asks just as there’s another knock on my door.
Tara pops her head in. “Dr. Beau, Palmer Chance is here with an emergency.”
Oh hell.
She joked at lunch how she was going to come to my office with an emergency, only to surprise me with her naked body in a trench coat, needing an “exam.”
Please, Jesus, don’t let her be in a trench coat. If she was embarrassed last night with the lab coat, she’d be horrified showing up in a trench coat, only to find her brother waiting for a prescription.
“Is she okay?” Cooper asks Tara, concern in his voice.
“She looks okay.”
Oh shit.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
She’s in the trench coat.
“Um, tell her I’ll be right with—”
“Beau, I need your help,” Palmer says, coming into my office but stopping short when she sees her brother.
Thank God there’s no trench coat. I let out a sigh of relief. That could have been particularly awful for everyone involved.
I take that moment to look her up and down. That’s when I notice a few scratches on her legs and arms and . . . oh hell, what did she do to her cast?
“Cooper, what are you doing here?”
“Picking up Dad’s prescription.” He stands. “Palmer, you can’t just come barging in here when Dr. Beau is with other patients. That violates so many laws.”
“It’s fine,” I say, trying to calm the tension that seems to be brewing between them. “Palmer, I’ll be right with you. Wait for me in the exam room, okay?”
She eyes Cooper and then looks back at me. “What are you two talking about? Me?”
Jesus Christ.
“No—”
“Why would we talk about you?” Cooper asks. He looks back at me and then at Palmer.
Palmer folds her arms, her muddy cast highlighting her defiance. “Maybe because Beau and I slept together last night.”
What in the living hell is she thinking?
“You what?” Cooper turns toward me, and I hold up my arms.
“We didn’t sleep together, sleep together. Just shared a bed. Nothing like you’re thinking,” I say in panic. The number one thing I’m sure Cooper doesn’t want to hear: how his sister spent her night.
“And we kissed and—”
“Palmer,” I say, trying to send her a warning through my eyes.
“Do you have anything to admit, Cooper?” Palmer asks, her hip jutted out.
Why do I have a feeling that things are about to explode, and not in a good way at all? Defuse, quickly.